Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WENGER SITTING GRITTY AT LAST
Advantage banned Arsene after Gunners keep the Blues at bay
ARSENE WENGER was a tortured soul in unfamiliar surroundings at Stamford Bridge.
But, ultimately, the Arsenal boss was left sitting pretty after a Carabao Cup stalemate must make it advantage Arsenal going into the second leg of the semi-final.
From his seat in the press box, there were times when Wenger could not contain his emotions as Arsenal were pinned back and put under pressure.
He let out the odd scream of frustration, kept kicking the seat in front of him and probably did not enjoy being surrounded by dozens of journalists.
Last year, he was in with the fans when he served a touchline ban and described that as a “bad experience” as Arsenal lost. But even though it was a nervous evening, his men survived last night to fight another day.
Chelsea’s full strength line-up could not find a way past Arsenal’s mix-and-match XI and that must be Wenger’s biggest comfort ahead of the return in a fortnight’s time.
None of the scribes sharing the press box with the Frenchman had much to write about during the early stages.
In contrast to last week’s fourgoal thriller in the league, this was much more cagey, with both teams sitting deep. This was a chess match rather than the end-to-end basketball at the Emirates.
Chelsea had more pressure but Arsenal looked dangerous on the break, Jack Wilshere’s 22nd-minute through-ball releasing Alexandre Lacazette but, as with strikers lacking form and self-belief, he blazed high and wide.
Chelsea’s finishing was not much better, with Alvaro Morata still looking out of form. Victor Moses had their best two efforts but both times his shots from the right were saved by David Ospina.
The visitors went close on 39 minutes when defender Antonio Rudiger’s clearance only went as far as Alex Iwobi and the Arsenal midfielder’s shot was well saved by Thibaut Courtois.
Chelsea should have opened the scoring just before the break when Cesar Azpilicueta’s diagonal ball into the penalty area found Cesc Fabregas unmarked, but he headed the best chance of the half straight at Ospina.
The cracks in the Arsenal defence began to appear as Chelsea turned the screw early in the second half.
N’golo Kante’s cross was flicked on by Marcos Alonso and Andreas
Christensen headed over at the back post. Arsenal were on the rack and Morata should have taken advantage of another Alonso flick-on before being denied by Ospina and then finding the side netting with another effort.
Arsenal suffered a body blow shortly before the hour when Wilshere hobbled off with what looked an ankle injury after blocking a Danny Drinkwater cross.
He has been so troubled by injuries during his career but this season had stayed fit and returned to form and the starting line-up.
Mohamed Elneny came on for Wilshere and it was rapidly becoming more of a rearguard action as they battened down the hatches in the face of Chelsea pressure.
They might have been made to pay had Chelsea a striker able to score, but Morata looks desperately short of confidence, even though his barren spell has been only been four games.
Moses had a shot deflected over by Shkodran Mustafi and, from the resulting Fabregas corner, Christensen really should have scored but put a glancing header wide.
Eventually Arsenal threw on Alexis Sanchez, whose absence from the starting line-up was a decision which will raise even more questions about his future at the club.
But his introduction did not have the impact Wenger might have been hoping for.
Referee Martin Atkinson, who had the benefit of another VAR experiment, left everyone waiting and wondering as he went to the video evidence before eventually deciding Danny Welbeck’s challenge on Fabregas was not a penalty.
That was a final let-off for Arsenal and you can only imagine what Wenger would have done in a packed press box had Atkinson pointed to the spot.
It was a difficult night for Arsenal and Wenger but they escaped Stamford Bridge with the tie still in the balance.